


You Make My Heart Shake, Bend and Break

by Ellienerd14



Series: Dear Matti [6]
Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Lots of Angst, M/M, Other, it's sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-11-21 16:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11360958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: 'You make my heart shake,Bend and break,But I can't turn away,And it's driving me wild,'Matteusz has never wanted to meet his soulmate. Growing up knowing his secret had haunted him since he understood what the word 'murderer' meant. Meeting Charlie, with a Cabinet of Souls but no soulmate, made him think he had escaped the dark secret that had haunted him. But the universe had other plans.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Based off the soulmate AU, where you are born knowing your soulmates biggest secret.

_Matteusz hated his soulmate._

Not all soulmates. The idea of having a person so perfect for you that the universe trusted you with their biggest secret was romantic. It was a promise that for most people meant safety. Soulmates meant the love story of a lifetime. It meant the perfect person was out there, waiting. 

All you had to know was their secret. A secret you were born knowing, scribbled in your soul, always there. A promise of true love. A promise of safety and hope. Something to look forward to. 

But secrets could be dangerous. Soulmates could be dangerous. Matteusz' soulmate was a murderer. 

He had to live with that his entire life. He was reminded of the dark future he was promised with every mention of soulmates. Every happy ending in a book, in movies, in TV shows was a cold, harsh reminder that he wouldn't get one. 

How could Matteusz get a happy ending with a murderer? Even if they hadn't done yet... he'd spend his entire life paranoid, waiting for it to happen. Carrying something that heavy in his soul terrified him. Maybe he was just that broken. 

Matteusz had done the research. Not everyone ended up with their soulmate. Sometimes they died too early and some people were born without them. They were usually seen as tragic cases but their stories gave Matteusz hope. He could be happy with someone who wasn't his soulmate; with someone who was good and deserving.

Moving to England added to that hope. Matteusz had always assumed his soulmate was from Poland. But even if he wasn't (it must be a boy, that Matteusz knew that more than anything), the likelihood of him finding his soulmate across two countries didn't seem so high. Which was fine by him. If Matteusz never met his soulmate... 

He focused on other things. While his peers dated and flirted and searched, Matteusz threw himself into his schoolwork. He practised reading and speaking in English until he was fluent. He passed his GCSEs with ease and when he got into Coal Hill's sixth form (the best in Shoreditch), his parents forgot their homophobia for a few weeks and started treating him like a son again. 

His soulmate was locked away and Matteusz was going to fall in love with someone else, someone safe in their own way. 

On the first day of the summer before sixth form, he met Charlie Smith who was wonderful and safe and had eyes bluer than the sky. 


	2. Wise men say only fools rush in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matteusz spends his summer crushing on Charlie.

When Matteusz first saw Charlie, he looked lost in time. Teenage boys typically didn't wear cardigans or read in the middle of parks.

Marcelina had pushed him in Charlie's direction. She was surprisingly strong for her age. "Go on then. You just look stupid staring."

"You're eight."

She crossed her arms stubbornly. "Matteusz," she said. "I'm going to play now, go talk to the pretty boy."

Matteusz thought he was above taking dating advice (or orders) from his eight year old sister but found himself trailing over to him anyway.

Matteusz couldn't help but agree that Charlie was pretty. He looked very angelic - blue eyes, light blond hair and was half-smiling at his book. "Hello."

Charlie looked up, startled. "Oh, hello." Matteusz couldn't help but notice how posh he sounded. (It was how he imagined all British people to talk, before he moved.)

"Did I scare you? Sorry," Matteusz said. "Cute boys don't usually read at the edge of the park."

He either missed the 'cute' part or didn't get it was a compliment. "I just needed some space." He put down his book. "I'm sorry, I just realised the social norm is an introduction. I'm Charlie."

Matteusz smiled; he spoke like he was from another time too. "I'm Matteusz. Are you new to London?"

"Matteusz," Charlie repeated. (He made the effort to pronounce it properly, which was a nice change.) "That's an interesting name. I was yet to hear it."

"It's Polish."

Charlie looked confused still. He was starting to think it was his default expression. "It's nice too. I'm from Sheffield."

He sounded uncertain. Charlie was clearly quite shy. "Are you sure?" Matteusz teased.

"Yes?"

"I'm just teasing," Matteusz reassured him.

"Teasing is the social conduct that leads to friendship, correct?" Charlie asked, he was both blunt and socially awkward and Matteusz couldn't help but find it adorable.

"Yes. Have you ever been told you're extremely strange?"

Charlie frowned and shook his head. "No. Is 'strange' good?"

"It can be," Matteusz replied. "You're the good kind of strange. I like that."

His smile was almost blinding.

* * *

Matteusz kept coming back to Charlie. He was always interesting, always quirky and funny. Always strange.

It wasn't even a surprise when he found himself daydreaming about Charlie. It had been a long time since he had a crush on someone (Matteusz had always held back before, with the harsh promise of a soulmate he never wanted to meet at the back of his mind).

Everything felt safe with Charlie. And it seemed like he didn't have a soulmate in the first place, based off his confusion when reading books about them. He was perfect. (That should have been a warning sign, looking back.)

"May- can I ask you a question?" Charlie sounded nervous. Despite initially seeming quite skittish, he was usually quite confident. (Which, if Matteusz was being honest about, he found very attractive.)

"Of course," he replied. Matteusz had gotten good at answering Charlie's questions. Usually it sparked off long conversation, during which he got to see a more thoughtful side of Charlie.

"Why do people kiss?"

That was not a question he was prepared for. Matteusz mostly spluttered in response. He had thought about kissing Charlie before (which was slightly embarrassing to admit to).

"Because it feels good. Or to show affection. Or because they like them. So much it hurts."

"Have you ever-"

Matteusz cut him off. "No. I never found the right boy."

"Oh," Charlie said. "You just like boys?"

"Yes. Do you not?" He didn't think he had a chance with Charlie.

"I am - well it's complicated to explain. But I find a large range of people attractive." He was blunt as usual. Matteusz couldn't help grinning; he had a chance. "Why are you smiling like that?"

* * *

 

"What are you doing?" Charlie asked, looking over at the text books Matteusz had spread out over the table. Usually they met up in the park but it was raining too heavily. Charlie had little droplets of rain caught in his eyelashes, which was far too pretty.

"Looking up physics," he replied, gesturing to the books. "A-levels are going to  be difficult and I'm getting a head start."

"School?" Charlie said the word like it was foreign to him.

"Yeah. What about you?" He still looked confused, which was weird, even for Charlie. "Are you going to any sixth form?"

"Yes? Year twelve is sixth form, correct?" Charlie's lack of certainty was weird but Matteusz didn't want to bring it up in case he was self conscious about it. (Maybe he was homeschooled? That would make a lot of sense.)

"Which one?"

"The... a friend organised for me to attend the school where their old friend used to teach. Coal Hill."

"Are you kidding me?"

Charlie scrunched his nose up in confusion. "No, I'm seventeen."

Matteusz laughed at him, hoping it was a joke. "I meant we're going to the same sixth form. How lucky is that?"

Charlie replaced his confused expression with a smile too pretty for his own good. "Could we walk together?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"I'm glad we're friends," he said. "You make me happy." Charlie was the only person who would say something like that so bluntly and honestly.

"Same here," Matteusz agreed. "You're just... great." It felt like an understatement. Charlie was almost perfect. He shut up the voice in his head that reminded him of his soulmates dark secret. Charlie made him feel like it was safe to fall for someone.

* * *

"Matti?" Marcelina was sat on the stairs with her arms crossed.

"Hi."

"Were you with Charlie again?" She asked, not holding back.

His parents weren't around, Matteusz answered. "Yes."

Marcelina smiled. "Are you in love with him?"

"I've known him for a month."

"Five weeks," she countered.

"Cela, you're far too involved in my love life."

Marcelina wasn't deterred. "Do you like him then?"

There was no point hiding it. His sister could be incredibly stubborn and she had clearly made up her mind. "Yes. I do happen to like him."

Marcelina beamed. "That's great Matti."

"I'm not getting my hopes up."

The smile dropped from her face. "Why? Just because Mummy and Daddy say you can't be happy with a boy…" Marcelina looked guilty but continued nevertheless. "It's not true. You can be happy. What's stopping you?"

Matteusz could never tell his sister the truth. That he was scared of his soulmate. That he was scared Charlie could have a soulmate who was better than him. Or maybe not better… just right for him. Soulmates were meant to click, to be together, to fall in love.

He lied to her, like all good brothers would. "I don't know."

"Please try," Marcelina pleaded. "I want you to be happy."

"Me too," Matteusz answered.

"Good." Marcelina stood up and pulled on his hand. "Come help me with my homework. You're the only one who's good at science."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to set up the chapters differently but since it started getting longer and I changed it, so this draft is finally seeing the light of day. 
> 
> I think I'll try and include the soulmate secrets of the others too but I'll keep them to myself for now. But feel free to guess of course. 
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	3. Too good to be good for me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matteusz and Charlie go to the prom together but the night takes a deadly turn.

People liked using the word fate. That the bus was meant to be late so they started talking to their soulmate.

Matteusz didn't like the word fate. There was too much weight attached to the single word he rarely used it. The universe was random. It didn't owe you a good life. It just gave you one if you were lucky.

He was not one of the lucky ones. So when Charlie beat Matteusz to asking him to the prom on four weeks into sixth form, he didn't think it was a sign from the universe.

It didn't stop him from blushing though. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't so enamoured with you." It was such a Charlie thing to say. Missing the social cues but still incredibly sweet at its core. Exactly like the slightly blushing blond standing in front of him.

"I'd love to go with you."

Charlie beamed at full force. He was just as cute and strange as when they met. And he wanted to dance with Matteusz at the prom.

It wasn't fate. (He hoped it wasn't fate. It would mean Charlie was... which he wasn't. Which he couldn't be. Or know about.)

Maybe Matteusz was just lucky. That had nothing to do with stars aligning or the universe paving the way.

He'd have to find his suit.

* * *

His parents didn't take Matteusz taking a boy to the prom well. Which was to be expected. They'd pray for him went he left. (They could stop him leaving. Matteusz was stronger than both of them and his parents didn't understand how deep his beliefs of pacifism ran.) It wouldn't work (not because God wasn't listening) because they had been praying for him since he was fourteen and it hadn't worked yet.

_"Is that the boy?"_

Matteusz headed to the door in a hurry. His parents wouldn't scare off the first boy who liked him back.

_"Matteusz do not leave this house."_

He ignored that too.

_"I'm going whether you like it or not. You can't stop me!"_

With his parents stunned into silence, Matteusz slipped outside. Charlie was stood at the edge of the gate, looking incredibly handsome. He was also frowning, which didn't suit him at all.

"Is everything alright?" Charlie asked in concern.

"Yes, my deeply religious parents are very happy I'm going to dance with a boy."

Charlie looked confused for a moment before deciding to miss the sarcasm all together and smile. "Great."

It was the opposite really but Matteusz couldn't help smiling back. There had been nothing but Charlie on his mind all evening and now he was finally standing in front of him.

He had no choice but to kiss him.

* * *

The prom seemed to be going well. The signs were weird but the other decorations were nice. The blue fairy lights made the whole night seem almost magical. If there was any night Matteusz could let himself get his hopes up on the universe had his back, it would be tonight. 

"I helped with the decorations," Charlie said. 

"I was going to, April's so nice but I have to pick up and babysit my sister after school."

"It's probably for the best that you didn't come and help decorate," Charlie said, oddly serious. It was strange but if Matteusz judged him every time he acted weird they'd have no time for kissing. "Actually, I need to talk to April."

Matteusz let Charlie wander off to talk to her. He was allowed to have friends too. 

"Have you not got a date?"

April shook her head.

"Is okay. You can dance with us." She wasn't exactly Matteusz' friend but April was clearly Charlie's. She had been his biology partner last year and always made an effort to ask if he was okay after she saw him arguing with his parents.

"Come on, let's dance. For tonight, we might die."

Charlie smiled and offered out a hand. He wasn't fate, Matteusz reminded himself, but that didn't mean Charlie couldn't make him happy. Even if he was a terrible dancer.

* * *

Nothing good lasted. The night took a turn for the worst when April collapsed.

Tanya kneeled next to her and checked her pulse. "April! Is she epileptic? Do we need to call an ambulance?"

"I'll get Charlie. He might know."

He left Tanya to watch over April and caught up with his date. "Something's happening with April. I think she fainted."

Charlie changed his expression into one of panic. He ran over to where she was sat. Her eyes were open now and red. Maybe she was epileptic, her eyes weren't normal.

"What do you see?" It seemed a little insensitive to ask when she was struggling to breath (allergic reaction?) but it snap April back into reality.

"They're opening the tear."

"Is that a bad thing?" Tanya seemed just as lost as he was. What tear?

"No!"

"What?"

"Oh, no." April was crying. "Charlie they want you!"

"Who? Who's trying to get Charlie?" Matteusz asked. "Is he in danger?"

"We all are." April blinked and her eyes turned back to blue. She let out a shaky breath and pulled herself up. "We need to get everybody out. They're near, I think. I can feel it."

Their whole exchange was weird. _"Who?"_

Charlie looked at him guiltily. "The shadows. There isn't time to explain. We need to find them before anyone else dies." He rushed over to Miss Quill and April followed him.

"Shadows?" Tanya repeated. "Not again." She gestured towards the exit where the trio had headed. "We should follow them."

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Long story short: alien invasion."

Tanya left him with that brief answer and walked towards the exit. Matteusz had two choices, to either follow them into danger or get out.

Just as Charlie disappeared out the doors, Matteusz made up his mind. If Charlie was in danger, he couldn't leave him.

He couldn't decide if he was being stupid or brave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking back on this episode I realised Matteusz must have like Charlie so much to put with all the prom craziness. 
> 
> I know the dialogue isn't word for word but I felt that would get boring quick. 
> 
> I love feedback!


	4. Somebody catch my breath

The twists and turns of the night kept coming. The universe most definitely did not have Matteusz' back. Or Charlie's, who seemed to be suffering as much as he was behind a mask of an (very cute) optimist teenager. 

A human mask. It seemed like there was a reason Charlie was so weird: he wasn't human. Matteusz wasn't sure where he was from if not Sheffield. He wasn't even from Earth.  _Rhodia_ , the Shadow had hissed, _the Prince of Rhodia._

"You know why I'm here, Prince." 

Matteusz didn't. He didn't know what Charlie was doing on Earth or in a school in London or at prom with him. Weren't princes meant to protect their people? The implications of his past left Matteusz feeling sick to his stomach. He wasn't the only one who was confused, Tanya looked equally lost although April, Charlie and most surprisingly Quill all wore expressions of fierce determination. They knew something. 

"You can't have it," Charlie replied, his voice full of emotions that pulled on Matteusz' heartstrings. 

"Then we'll just have to cover  _this_  planet in shadow, too," the creature (Corakinus, Charlie had said) threatened. Whatever the alien was, it seemed more than capable of destruction. It had an army... they had a gun, four teenagers and an angry physics teacher. They did not have a plan. 

"No, you won't. You won't kill me because you'll die yourself." It was hard to tell if April was trying to reason out of strategy or desperation. 

"There is enough time of possibilities other than death for planet Earth." 

Even if the threat wasn't directed at him, Matteusz couldn't help panicking. Things didn't look good for them. Corakinus seemed unstoppable. 

"They've locked us in. We're trapped!" April clutched at her chest and Corakinus glanced down at his own chest.  _You'll die yourself_ \- they must be linked, Matteusz realized. 

"You've got what you wanted," Charlie pleaded, sounding desperate. "Haven't you done enough?"

Corakinus smile was cruel. "I've not yet got what I wanted."

Quill held up her arms into an attack formation. "Well, nothing left to do, then, is there, but to die well." 

Matteusz looked over at Charlie. He didn't want to die when his last words to his parents was an argument about the very boy who got him into this standoff. 

"You know, I never thought that was possible. Dying well. Who wants to die well? Surely the aim should be  _not_  dying well?" An unfamiliar voice asked. 

"You."

"You."

"Who?" Matteusz asked. 

"Oh, this is a bit of a mess, isn't it? I used to be the caretaker here, you know, before it got all fancy. This is going to be quite a clean-up job. You've heard of me, haven't you?"

It seemed impossible for the whole situation to become even more complicated but the arrival of the Doctor (another alien because it couldn't possibly get weirder) only added another layer of confusion.

"It's just that I seem to have a soft spot for people who are the last of their species, which you have made my friends here. I found them a home, but they were supposed to live quietly." 

The last of their species... Charlie was the last of his species. He always said he felt so alone in the world, which took on a new meaning now. Matteusz wanted to reach out to him but he literally couldn't think of a worse time. (For tonight they might die...) 

"We are here for the Cabinet of Souls."

"What's the Cabinet of Souls?" April asked, glancing at Charlie who looked suddenly distraught. 

"It's the centre of Rhodian religion. The soul of every Rhodian who dies is supposed to go there. It's a repository for a future paradise."  _Heaven_ , Matteusz thought as the Doctor explained. Charlie was guarding Heaven for his own people. That he was the last of. 

"It's a weapon." 

 _Your soulmate is a murderer._ But Charlie wouldn't use it, Matteusz was sure. But there was so much he had wrong about Charlie. He seemed good in his soul but he also looked human. It was hard to tell what was real. 

"It's the power of all that life crammed down into single specks of light. It could be enough to destroy an entire species." 

Matteusz looked over at Charlie. He was crying. 

"He can use it against us." 

"Yes and who would blame him?" Quill replied, glaring at Charlie as if he should have killed them already. 

"I would," Matteusz whispered, which went unnoticed by everyone but Tanya. 

"I would," the Doctor said, echoing his thoughts, "why avenge genocide with genocide?" 

Charlie finally spoke up. "It doesn't matter. The Cabinet of Souls is empty. I knew it would be. Every Rhodian does. It's just bedtime stories for children to make death less scary. As if death should be anything but terrifying. But I kept it in memory of my people. All my people who are gone because of you!"  

And to think he wa getting optimistic about fate.

* * *

By the end of the night, Matteusz was exhausted; it had been an emotional rollercoaster. They finally had time to sit down and breathe while the Doctor fixed Ram's leg. (If it could be fixed, the wound looked pretty serious.) No one was speaking about what happened, even as the box vanished. It wasn't even the worst thing that happened that night. 

Charlie was sat by a bench by himself, staring at the empty space where the Doctor's ship had once been. Matteusz had a feeling he was thinking about his home. Rhodia. He sat next to Charlie and took his hand without directly looking at him. When he didn't pull away, Matteusz leant on his shoulder. It was comforting to sit like that, to remember that even if Charlie wasn't human, he was still a person. A person had had soft hands and the same sad eyes. (He knew now why he always seemed sad.) 

The box reappeared with an unnatural wheezing noise. Ram limped out, followed by the Doctor. 

"Hey, you okay?" April asked, helping Ram sit down. Matteusz moved so he was standing Charlie so Ram could sit in his place. He rested a hand on Charlie's shoulder, hoping he'd get the unspoken message.  

"So, what are we going to do with you lot?" 

Charlie shifted nervously. "That opening the Shadow Kin came through, you couldn't close it all the way... can they come back?" 

It was a worry Matteusz shared. Corakinus shared a heart with April now and still wanted the Cabinet of Souls from Charlie. 

"Are you taking Charlie away?" he asked. The other looked at him and he suddenly felt embarrassed to have asked. 

"Time itself has worn thin here and it can only be patched up so well," the Doctor explained. 

"So, those things are going to come back?" Tanya asked. "Meaning what for us exactly?" 

"Corakinus will have to find you first. I scrambled the pulsation. Of course, Coal Hill will continue to act like a beacon across all of space and time, to any being who might want to make mischief with it. So, you will have to be on your guard." 

Tanya sank back into her seat. "You're not exactly filling us with confidence," she muttered sarcastically.  

"I thought you were going to get us out of here?" Quill asked, stepping in the way of the door to his box. Matteusz looked down at Charlie; he didn't want him to go anywhere. 

"Why would you be safer somewhere else? Time has looked at your faces. And time never forgets." 

Quill frowned. "These students may disgust me, but at the end of the day, they're just children. They can't cope with  _this_." She gestured at the hallway where the rift had been. "We've already had one death." Ram whimpered and looked down at his leg. 

"I think that they have shown some rather extraordinary spirit, don't you? A willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others. Resourcefulness. Bravery. And most importantly of all, an absolute understanding of how precious life is." 

Matteusz was sure there was easier ways to learn those lessons but it seemed like they didn't have a choice. They were defending Coal Hill from whatever came from rift. 

And he was late home. 

* * *

By the time Matteusz did get home, the lights were all off and the door was locked. He'd remembered to grab his keys and let himself into the dark hallway. He watched Charlie and April walk off together into the night. They'd shared a short hug before he'd gone inside whilst April had made a show of not looking. It was awkward. 

He spotted a figure sitting on the stairs. There was single light left upstairs too. 

"Cela, you should be in bed." 

She smiled at him sheepishly. "Not sure if you'd come home or not. I heard Mummy and Dad shouting at you." 

Matteusz had almost forgotten about their argument earlier. They'd probably ground him, which was the least of his problems. 

"Will be okay." 

Marcelina frowned. "They were in bad moods. Mummy didn't even make dinner." 

"You were worrying about me?" 

"Yes," she admitted shyly. "And you are late home." 

Mattuesz pulled his sister into a hug. Marcelina was too young to be worrying about whether or not their parents would kick him out. Or about shadows that carried swords that were hell bent on destruction. 

"How was Charlie?" 

"Very cute and bad at dancing." 

Marcelina smiled. "Is he your boyfriend?" 

Matteusz laughed at his sister. "You are very nosey Cela." 

"I just want you to be happy," she protested innocently. 

"Why don't we eat ice cream and we can talk? Just don't tell Mummy." 

"Deal." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been ages since I updated this fic... sorry? I may have started too many. 
> 
> Cela is a sweetheart and I adore my daughter. 
> 
> For any classmates on tumblr who are interested taking part in a class secret santa please follow my sideblog @classmatesecretsanta and submit a prompt by Nov 24th! 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


	5. So let me know the truth before I dive right into you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's dedicated for my favourite Greek bean :)

Like the two siblings had predicted, Matteusz was grounded until further notice, which probably meant forever to his parents. But, in practise it let to only two weeks without his phone and then a lift on the grounding, if only Matteusz agreed to stop talking to ‘that boy’. It was an empty promise but Matteusz agreed anyway. (Ironically enough, his reason for agreeing was to go on a date Charlie. But, Matteusz had learned from his mistakes and knew better than to bring the subject up of boys again any time soon.)

Part of Matteusz suspected that Charlie was trying to protect him because weird alien stuff was clearly happening still given that the list of names kept growing since the prom. Including Mr Armitage - who was always nice to Matteusz - which achieved the opposite of Charlie’s intentions because he felt more unsafe than ever. Plus, Matteusz had a heavy sense of dread that something bad might happen to Charlie (or the others) whilst trying to defend themselves from whatever came out of the rift. Considering media studies was one of the a-level subjects he was current failing, Matteusz couldn’t share the Doctor’s faith in their team. (A team he was isolated from at the moment, so it was hard to form an accurate judgement.)

The easiest way to tackle his growing pile of concerns was to talk to Charlie. And maybe - if he was brave - Matteusz could ask about his soulmate and figure out if Charlie even had one - he was literally from another a planet, so maybe he didn’t and Matteusz could let himself feel safe to fall for Charlie.

Like he had been from the start.

* * *

It was surprisingly hard to get Charlie alone but Matteusz finally got an opportunity when he was crouched down, collecting his books. It wasn’t Ram this time, which was an improvement.

“Here.”

Charlie looked up at him and his mouth curled into a slight smile that filled Matteusz with an instant sense of relief. “Thank you.”

“You should put your notebooks in your bags. The other Coal Hill students are not very considerate and may ruin some of your work.”

Charlie took the last book from his hand and put on top of a neat pile in his locker. “That was a sketchbook.”

“Even more important,” Matteusz replied. He twisted his hands together as an attempted distraction from his nerves at finally talking to him. “Hi.”

Charlie closed his locker and leant against the wall, with the same damn grin that had made Matteusz’ summer. “Hi.”

“Can we talk?” he asked, in a desperate hurry. “Because we have not been talking for a while.”

Charlie nodded. “I thought that you didn’t want to deal with any alien stuff. It’s my fault, I knew I should have said something before the prom and I didn’t-”

“Is okay,” Matteusz interrupted, which was probably rude but necessary given Charlie was spiralling. “But I would like to talk about the prom and what happened after.”

“And what happened before?” he suggested, with a gleam in his eye. “I think about that a lot. I think about you a lot too.”

Matteusz reached for Charlie’s hand: “trust me, the feeling is mutual.”

“So, should we go get lunch?” Charlie asked. “I’m not very experienced but we can go off the school site if we don’t miss any of our lessons. Talking about Rhodia - about my home - is hard so I need some privacy. If that’s okay. I’m really not good at this.”

“It’s a date.”

* * *

 Given that Matteusz hadn’t always been good at speaking English, he was a good listener. Which was a helpful skill to have as Charlie poured his heart out over coffee and chips. Parts of his story Matteusz had already started to piece together based off the prom but the whole truth was even more heartbreaking. Charlie’s entire life had been torn apart by the Shadow Kin and he was left trying to rebuild a new one; at least he understood now exactly why Charlie was so strange. And why his eyes - even if Charlie’s eyes were one of his favourite feature - seemed so much older than he was.

Charlie wiped his eyes with his cardigan sleeve and looked down at coffee (a mocha which had four sugars in which suggested he a serious addiction to sugar). “Do you have any questions?”

“What happened to the headteacher?”

“He died,” Charlie answered hesitantly. “It was quite awful.”

“You saw it?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah. It was graphic... “ He shuddered, which only furthered Matteusz’ theory the universe wasn’t listening or helpful or kind. Charlie had already seen his entire people slaughtered, he didn’t need to add anyone else to the list of deaths keeping him awake.

“Are you trying to protect me?” Matteusz asked, “you did not talk to me until now about alien things.”

“I should have protected you at the prom,” Charlie answered. He was digging his nails into his palms so Matteusz pulled his hand away and held on, even after he relaxed. “The Shadow Kin said they’d attack the prom. I should have told you not to come.”

“You did protect me,” he protested. “Going to the prom with you would always be dangerous, even without the threat of the Shadow Kin.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.” Charlie dragged his fingertips on the back of his hand, which did a good job of distracting Matteusz from their conversation completely. “I didn’t know exactly what religious parents meant.”

“Is okay. You are literally from another planet.” Matteusz smiled at Charlie, trying to reassure his seemingly endless anxieties. “But, now I know that so if you ever get confused, you can just ask me.”

“Thank you. I have one question about earth. What are soulmates?”

Matteusz froze. “Soulmates?”

“We didn’t have the concept on Rhodia. The Doctor said it was like fate and I’ve read book but I don’t understand.” Charlie’s hand tensed up. “Oh, you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No, I will explain promise.” Matteusz found himself digging his own nails into his palms at just mention of soulmates. He had successfully avoided talking about soulmates for most of his life. No one knew his secret. “Is like… like your name. Your parents never tell you it in a conversation but you know it. You are born with this knowledge, this strange fact about a person you do not even know. Their biggest secret - your soulmates biggest secret.”

“How do you know the person is your soulmate?” Charlie asked, with the same big eyes Marcelina got when he read her a fairytale.

“They trust you enough to tell you. Or you find out.”

“Why did you not like soulmates?” Charlie asked.

“I do not think fate or the universe should get a say in who we fall in love with. People can fall in love and then realise they are not with their soulmates and they break up because they feel like it is right. Soulmates make people unhappy. Maybe… if it was not secrets we knew. Secrets are the ugliest part of us…” Matteusz stopped and breathed out. “I have a bad soulmate. I do not want to know them.”

“You have me.”

Matteusz smiled and nodded. “We should head back soon. Thank you for being honest.”

“You are a good listener.”

“Having a boyfriend will always be dangerous for me, no matter who. So, I might as well date a boy who my little sister approves of.”

“Even if I’m weird?”

“Especially if you are weird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok.... it's been months but I'm returning to this fic with some optimism on updating more! 
> 
> We never saw Charlie and Matteusz having a Big Talk which I felt was very needed to make the transition between ep 1 and ep 3 feel less rushed. So, here's my attempt! 
> 
> Feedback is food for my soul and motivation! ^_^

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be angsty. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


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